[Blind-rollers] Totally blind power chair users

Tue May 21 12:14:33 UTC 2013

Hi Penny, 

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond to you.  I am a totally blind power
chair user living in Phoenix Arizona in the US.  

I can fully relate to the difficulty of getting around in unfamiliar areas
in a manual chair while using a guide cane.  You just do not have enough
hands to use the wheels and sweep the guide cane all at the same time, so it
just takes an incredible amount of time to get anywhere along your route.  

Once I began using a power wheelchair it was like night and day.  The
ability of moving yourself around with only one hand leaving the other hand
free to use the guide cane was an incredible change in the positive
direction.  

I have tried a number of power chairs before finding the one I finally
decided was right for me.  Some of the other chairs I tried out had negative
things you should look out for.  One such thing is the size of the wheels on
the corner points.  The power chairs I have used have three wheels on each
side where the drive wheel is in the middle and the wheels on the outside
are used for stability and steering.  I have used chairs that have such
small wheels for these outside wheels, any little bump would serve as a
total barrier you just could not get over.  

Also, it is very important that the wheelchair has independent suspension
for each of the wheels.  This allows you to easily get over any number of
things which would serve as a total block for a chair without suspension.
In my current chair, I am able to drive through roads or parking lots that
have some pretty good sized potholes and there is never any troubles.  And,
to let me understand the quality of the suspension as I was first trying out
the chair, the designers had me drive through a parking lot allowing one
side of my chair to go over a very high speed bump while the other side
remained on flat ground.  As I did this, the wheels just totally absorbed
the bump and I barely felt anything as I went over it with no troubles at
all.  

Having buttons allowing you to adjust the speed of your chair is also a very
good feature to have on the chair.  Being totally blind, I usually go fairly
slow for reasons of safety.  But, if you get stuck on something, being able
to put your chair in a faster, stronger drive mode really allows you the
capability of getting yourself through some tough situations that would,
otherwise, have served as a total block.  

I have heard other people suggest different arrangements of your drive
wheels and the other wheels on the chair.  But, in my experience, having
three wheels on each side where the middle wheel is the drive wheel and the
outer wheels are there for the purpose of stability and turning makes the
most sense.  I have never found a situation as of yet where this wheelchair
has gotten totally stuck and I have not been able to get myself out.  

I hope these ideas help out and I really have the highest hopes for your
client.  Let him know that, no matter what other people might say, a blind
person using a power chair is more than just possible, if anything, it is
the best solution for many reasons.  

Please keep us all informed as to how things work out and, let me know if
there are any particular questions I might be able to answer.  

Cheers, 
David 

-----Original Message-----
From: Blind-rollers [mailto:blind-rollers-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Penny Stevenson
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2013 10:01 PM
To: 'blind-rollers at nfbnet.org'
Subject: [Blind-rollers] Totally blind power chair users

Hi there all,
I'm an O&M from Melbourne Australia. I'm working with a totally blind guy
(tiny bit of light perception) who is currently in a manual wheelchair.
His goal is to get up to his local shops which is certainly attainable
however we have a few little access issues to tackle first.
I'm wanting to hear stories / hints / tips / wheelchair config ideas from
those of you who aren't relying much on using your remaining vision to get
around.
Basically there aren't a lot of people mobilising independently in
wheelchairs with low vision (requiring a long cane for example), let alone
someone with no vision. We are having trouble convincing the funding
authorities that this client is going to be safe. I have been working with
him pushing his manual chair whilst he is learning the cane and he is able
to detect obstacles and can describe a route. We are only up to week 3 so
have a bit further to go in terms of having this student become as
independent as he can using a manual chair. We have a bit more work to do on
road crossings for example.
Looking forward to hearing your experiences.
>From Penny Stevenson

Penny Stevenson
Orientation and Mobility Specialist
Vision Australia
346 Macaulay Rd. (Cnr Stubbs St. - Enter via Stubbs St.) Kensington, VIC,
3031 Direct line: 03  8378 1183
General: 1300 847 466
Fax: 03 8378 1201

www.visionaustralia.org.au<http://www.visionaustralia.org.au>
ABN: 67 108 391 831
ACN: 108 391 831

______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Blind-rollers mailing list
Blind-rollers at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-rollers_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Blind-rollers:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blind-rollers_nfbnet.org/djpaul4%40cox.net